Vermont HS Girl holds 8 National Shooting Titles
Sports Section, page D4, of The Burlington Free Press on Friday, 5/30.
The junior rifle team Kate Benjamin shoots is with the Burlington Rifle &
Pistol Club. The funds raised by the junior rifle team members, the
club, the families of these young shooters and the Friends of theNRA
banquets in Vermont help fund the competition needs of such great
young adults. Congratulations to Kate Benjamin, her family and coaches.
On target
By Mike Donoghue
Free Press Staff Writer
Kate Benjamin always hits her target, whether in the classroom or on the firing range.
Her marksmanship is so good that the Colchester High School senior has earned a full athletic scholarship to attend to the University of Memphis as a member of its varsity rifle team.
While her classmates have focused on more traditional sports such as soccer, basketball and track, Benjamin has quietly won national recognition for rifle shooting. She holds eight national records.
"She is so modest. You would have no idea that she was one of the best at shooting," Colchester athletic director David Bahrenburg said Thursday.
"Katie is outgoing, but she's never bringing attention to herself as a shooter."
Colchester plans to honor Benjamin when the school holds it athletic banquet Monday evening, he said.
"I'm very excited I'm being recognized," said Benjamin, who is ranked eighth in the 168-member senior class with a 3.95 GPA.
Benjamin decided to bypass offers from military academies to attend Memphis. She also looked at Nebraska, Kentucky and West Virginia, one of the top programs in the nation. As Benjamin became more interested, the coach called to say the program was being eliminated. The University of Alaska wanted her, but that school didn't have a nursing program.
Benjamin started shooting in October 1995.
"We were at a gun show. I was 10," she recalled.
Dr. Richard Morrison of Colchester began training Benjamin. Since then, she's traveled across the nation and her weekends are filled with practice and competitions.
Dick Benjamin, her father, also has coached her. Younger sister Sarah, 13, has just begun competitive shooting. Joan Benjamin, their mother, is a teacher who has remained on the sidelines.
College competition includes firing at targets from 50 feet in prone, standing and kneeling positions. Team scores are based on four shooters with air rifles and four with small-bore (.22 caliber) rifles.
"She'll shoot both," Memphis coach Lee "Butch" Woolbright said. "I saw her at the national championship in Atlanta."
Woolbright thinks he stole a prize in signing Benjamin.
"She's extremely good," Woolbright said. "We're a new program. She wanted to get into an up-and-coming program."
The 11-year-old Memphis program last season included freshman Beth Tidmore of Decatur, Ga., who won the 2003 National Junior Olympic Championship Women Air Rifle competition in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Tidmore, named All-American in the air rifle division by the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association, introduced Benjamin to Woolbright last summer during a break in the national competition in Atlanta. Due to NCAA rules, Benjamin couldn't talk then with Woolbright, but he contacted her July 1, the first day coaches may make contact with seniors. Months passed before other coaches and programs expressed interest. Benjamin looked at all of them, but said she was interested in a career in nursing. She said she kept coming back to Memphis and Woolbright, who called to wish her a Merry Christmas.
In January, "He (Woolbright) phoned me the day before my birthday," Benjamin said. "I said 'Are you calling to wish me happy birthday?'"
Woolbright had quite a present for the high school senior: "I'm calling to offer you a full scholarship," she quoted him as saying.
She continued to weigh offers and considered the University of Vermont, though the thought of not competing ruled out UVM. When she received her official acceptance from Memphis this spring, she had a one-word reply: "Yes."
Benjamin chuckles over the irony of a shooter planning a career in nursing.
"It is the safest sport in the Olympics," said Benjamin.
Sports Section, page D4, of The Burlington Free Press on Friday, 5/30.
The junior rifle team Kate Benjamin shoots is with the Burlington Rifle &
Pistol Club. The funds raised by the junior rifle team members, the
club, the families of these young shooters and the Friends of theNRA
banquets in Vermont help fund the competition needs of such great
young adults. Congratulations to Kate Benjamin, her family and coaches.
On target
By Mike Donoghue
Free Press Staff Writer
Kate Benjamin always hits her target, whether in the classroom or on the firing range.
Her marksmanship is so good that the Colchester High School senior has earned a full athletic scholarship to attend to the University of Memphis as a member of its varsity rifle team.
While her classmates have focused on more traditional sports such as soccer, basketball and track, Benjamin has quietly won national recognition for rifle shooting. She holds eight national records.
"She is so modest. You would have no idea that she was one of the best at shooting," Colchester athletic director David Bahrenburg said Thursday.
"Katie is outgoing, but she's never bringing attention to herself as a shooter."
Colchester plans to honor Benjamin when the school holds it athletic banquet Monday evening, he said.
"I'm very excited I'm being recognized," said Benjamin, who is ranked eighth in the 168-member senior class with a 3.95 GPA.
Benjamin decided to bypass offers from military academies to attend Memphis. She also looked at Nebraska, Kentucky and West Virginia, one of the top programs in the nation. As Benjamin became more interested, the coach called to say the program was being eliminated. The University of Alaska wanted her, but that school didn't have a nursing program.
Benjamin started shooting in October 1995.
"We were at a gun show. I was 10," she recalled.
Dr. Richard Morrison of Colchester began training Benjamin. Since then, she's traveled across the nation and her weekends are filled with practice and competitions.
Dick Benjamin, her father, also has coached her. Younger sister Sarah, 13, has just begun competitive shooting. Joan Benjamin, their mother, is a teacher who has remained on the sidelines.
College competition includes firing at targets from 50 feet in prone, standing and kneeling positions. Team scores are based on four shooters with air rifles and four with small-bore (.22 caliber) rifles.
"She'll shoot both," Memphis coach Lee "Butch" Woolbright said. "I saw her at the national championship in Atlanta."
Woolbright thinks he stole a prize in signing Benjamin.
"She's extremely good," Woolbright said. "We're a new program. She wanted to get into an up-and-coming program."
The 11-year-old Memphis program last season included freshman Beth Tidmore of Decatur, Ga., who won the 2003 National Junior Olympic Championship Women Air Rifle competition in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Tidmore, named All-American in the air rifle division by the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association, introduced Benjamin to Woolbright last summer during a break in the national competition in Atlanta. Due to NCAA rules, Benjamin couldn't talk then with Woolbright, but he contacted her July 1, the first day coaches may make contact with seniors. Months passed before other coaches and programs expressed interest. Benjamin looked at all of them, but said she was interested in a career in nursing. She said she kept coming back to Memphis and Woolbright, who called to wish her a Merry Christmas.
In January, "He (Woolbright) phoned me the day before my birthday," Benjamin said. "I said 'Are you calling to wish me happy birthday?'"
Woolbright had quite a present for the high school senior: "I'm calling to offer you a full scholarship," she quoted him as saying.
She continued to weigh offers and considered the University of Vermont, though the thought of not competing ruled out UVM. When she received her official acceptance from Memphis this spring, she had a one-word reply: "Yes."
Benjamin chuckles over the irony of a shooter planning a career in nursing.
"It is the safest sport in the Olympics," said Benjamin.
